Adaptive optics sky coverage for dome C telescopes
The unique atmospheric characteristics found at Dome C on the Antarctic plateau offer significant advantages for the operation of adaptive optics systems. An analysis is presented here comparing the performance of adaptive optics systems on telescopes located at Dome C with similar systems located a...
| Published in: | Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1086/593008 https://arodes.hes-so.ch/record/8501/files/Published%20version.pdf http://arodes.hes-so.ch/record/8501 |
| Summary: | The unique atmospheric characteristics found at Dome C on the Antarctic plateau offer significant advantages for the operation of adaptive optics systems. An analysis is presented here comparing the performance of adaptive optics systems on telescopes located at Dome C with similar systems located at a mid-latitude site. The large coherence length, wide isoplanatic angle, and long coherence time of the Dome C atmosphere allow an adaptive optics system located there to correct to high order, observe over wide fields and use faint guide stars, resulting in a lower total wavefront error and a significant increase in sky coverage factor than can be achieved at a typical mid-latitude site. While the same performance could in principle be achievable at mid-latitude sites, this would only occur under exceptionally stable atmospheric conditions that are likely to occur on only a few nights per year. |
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